The present invention relates to a cab side opening screen used on vehicles, such as a skid steer loader or similar vehicles, where a rollover protection cab is provided that has side openings over which screens are placed. The screens generally are made of a metal panel that is relatively thin and which has holes punched out thereof, often roughly rhombus-shaped, with narrow strips of material remaining between the holes.
Skid steer loaders have for many years utilized rollover protection type cabs that provide an overhead frame, and with screens or grates on side openings of the cab that provide operator visibility and that afford protection. This type of screen is shown in various skid steer loader patents, for example, in design patents D419,568 and D317,926.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,189,954 and 6,382,711 and U.S. patent application publication US2001/0008346 show the use of this type of sheet metal side screen or grate with stationary window assemblies that are attached to the screen. The side window assemblies in these two patents and the publication do not slide relative to the screens, but in some cases it is desirable to have windows which can open by sliding a window section relative to the side screens or grates. Problems can arise if the screens or grills are not flat, are bent or distorted, or exhibit what is known to those in the art as an “oil can” effect. Binding of the window sliding relative to the grill or side screen can occur.